Contemplation on a Nation's Peace, Happiness, and Prosperity

We, the citizens of Singapore,

pledge ourselves as one united people,

regardless of race, language or religion,

to build a democratic society

based on justice and equality

so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and

progress for our nation.

 

"In December 1976, while attending a conference in Singapore of 300 religious leaders sponsored by the World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP), Thay was informed by a group of Vietnamese women that there were thousands of Vietnamese in refugee camps in Thailand and Malaysia, with no hope of being accepted into a new country. In Singapore there were fewer refugees, because the government's policy there was to push all refugee boats back to sea, even when that meant leaving the refugees to die. If a Singapore fishing boat was caught helping a refugee boat, the fishing boat's owner had to post a $4,000 bond for each refugee saved. Only after the refugees were pushed back to sea could he get his money refunded."

-- Learning True Love by Sister Chân Không

You stay up late tonight, my brothers.

This I know,

because the boat people

on the high seas

never dare go to sleep.

I hear the cry of the winds

around me ---

total darkness.

Yesterday they threw the dead bodies

of their babies and children

into the water.

Their tears once again filled

the ocean of suffering.

In what direction are their boats drifting

at this moment?

You stay up very late tonight, brothers,

because the boat people

on the high seas

are not certain at all that mankind exists.

Their loneliness

is so immense.

The darkness has become one with the ocean --

and the ocean, an immense desert.

You stay up all night, brothers,

and the whole universe

clings to your being awake.

-- Thich Nhat Hanh